Track Open-Source Apps With Ohloh

I was just turned on to Ohloh.net, an awesome directory of active open-source software projects. It’s a community site more than it is a searchable directory, though it functions just as well if you’re looking for details about a particular free software project.

Every application in the directory has a landing page that offers a short description, a list of licenses used and a summary of the program’s vital info — what language it’s written in, advantages and possible licensing conflicts are listed. Check out Firefox‘s page. Also, here’s Adium.

You also get the standard user input of any Web 2.0 gathering space: tags, reviews, comments and a 1-to-5-star rating. A nice touch is the development map, which plots the physical location of each of the app’s developers on a Google Map. An even nicer touch: there’s a spot reserved for a tiny direct download link just above the map on every page.

There’s also a handy metrics tool to track development on the different elements within a project — compare the speed of your source code’s development with the development of the tools you’re using to build it.

Developers can set up a profile page where they list their skills and the projects they’re working on. Developers can also give each other "kudos" for work well done. Kudos to Ohloh!